Dortmund to fight for Utd target Lewandowski

ESPN staff

April 25, 2013

Borussia Dortmund still believe they can hold onto Robert Lewandowski, despite his reputation being further enhanced with a four-goal haul against Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Lewandowski scored all four goals as Dortmund claimed a 4-1 victory over Madrid in their Champions League semi-final first leg, with his imperious display doing little to dampen speculation linking him with Bayern Munich and Manchester United.

However, Dortmund have insisted they will not sell another of their big names after this week agreeing to let Mario Gotze join Bayern in a €37 million deal, with BVB boss Jurgen Klopp echoing that sentiment after the Madrid game.

"I do not have the feeling that Robert is on the run and we are not the ones to send him away," Klopp said. "Let's wait and see what happens next. This performance will definitely go down in history."

Dortmund chief executive Aki Watzke stressed that the club are desperate to keep Lewandoswki at the Westfalenstadion.

He said: "Robert has a contract until 2014 and there is no exit clause like with Mario Gotze. It is our explicit wish to keep him until 2014. That is why we are saying no to a transfer fee. Up to now a lot of wishes have come true in my life."

Lewandowski himself refused to be drawn on discussions of a move away from Dortmund, saying: "I will not comment on that because I'm focused on what I need to do with Borussia.

"We have another match to go, hopefully two in the Champions League and that is the important thing - everything else will have to wait."

However, the forward's agent has muddied the waters by saying conditions are in place for Lewandowski to move on this summer.

"We are in agreement with a club and have the right to change this summer," Maik Barthel is quoted as telling Sport Bild. "All the claims of Dortmund are met."